Have you moved to a new city? Or recently changed your address? Do not forget to update your new address in your Aadhaar. You have Valid Address Proof or have received Address Validation Letter Letter (For those without Valid Address Proof), you can update your address.

VID is a temporary, revocable 16-digit random number mapped with the Aadhaar number. It can be used in lieu of Aadhaar number whenever authentication or e-KYC services are performed. It is not possible to derive Aadhaar number from VID.

Frequently Asked Questions

One must keep in mind that a bank account cannot be opened merely on the presentation or submission of a physical Aadhaar card or its photocopy. Under the PML Rules and RBI circulars, to open a bank account, the bank is required to do biometric or OTP authentication and other due diligence before accepting Aadhaar for banking transaction or KYC. So no one can open a bank account in your name without your verification through biometric/OTP etc. If however, a bank account is opened by accepting Aadhaar without biometric or OTP authentication and other verification, then the bank will be held responsible for any loss. An Aadhaar holder cannot be held responsible for bank’s fault. It is just like if some fraudster opens a bank account by presenting someone else’s Voter card/Ration card, it is the bank that would be held responsible not the voter or ration card holder. Till date no Aadhaar holder has suffered any financial loss on account of such misuse.

No. Just, by knowing your Aadhaar number, no one can harm you. It’s just like any other identity document such as passport, voter ID, PAN card, ration card, driving license, etc., that you have been using freely for decades with service providers. Aadhaar identity, instead, is instantly verifiable and hence more trusted. Also, as per the Aadhaar Act 2016, the Aadhaar card is required to be verified by fingerprint, iris scan, OTP authentication, and QR code. Hence, it is near impossible to impersonate you if you use Aadhaar to prove your identity. People have been freely giving other identity documents such as passport, voter ID, PAN card, ration card, driving license, etc. But did they stop using these documents for the fear that somebody would use them to impersonate? No! They continue using them and if any fraud happens, the law enforcement agencies handle them as per law. The same logic will apply to Aadhaar. In fact, Aadhaar is more secure than many other identity documents, because unlike other IDs, Aadhaar is instantly verifiable through biometric and OTP authentication and QR code. Further, under the Aadhaar Act, 2016 stringent penalties, including fines and imprisonment are provided whenever a person misuses your Aadhaar number or tries to cause any harm to you.

Aadhaar is to be accepted as a proof of identity only after proper authentication under the Aadhaar Act. Also, UIDAI strongly recommends that if authentication facility is not available, the verification of Aadhaar should be done offline through QR code available on the physical Aadhaar copy. If any agency does not follow these best practices, then that agency will be fully responsible for situations or losses arising out of possible misuse or impersonation. An Aadhaar holder is not responsible for the wrongful act of or by any agency.

Just like by merely knowing your bank account number, one cannot withdraw money from your account, similarly by merely knowing your Aadhaar number, no one can withdraw money from Aadhaar linked bank account. As in bank for withdrawing money, your signature, debit card, PIN, OTP, etc., is required, similarly for withdrawing money from your Aadhaar linked bank account through Aadhaar, your fingerprint, IRIS or OTP sent to your Aadhaar registered mobile will be required. No Aadhaar holder has suffered any financial or other loss or identity theft on account of any said misuse or attempted impersonation of Aadhaar. Notably, everyday more than 3 crore Authentications are carried out on the Aadhaar platform. In the last eight years, so far more than 2,182 crore authentications (till 31st July 2018) have been successfully done. UIDAI keeps upgrading and reviewing its security systems and safety mechanisms to make Aadhaar more secure and more useable. There has not been a single instance of biometric data breach from Aadhaar database. Therefore, people should freely use and give Aadhaar to prove their identity as and when required.

No. As your bank information is not shared by the bank with anyone else, no one can have information about your bank account just by knowing your Aadhaar number. Also, UIDAI or any entity for that matter would not have any information about your bank account. For example, you give your mobile number at various places and to various authorities such as bank, passport authorities, income tax departments, etc. Would the telecom company have access to your bank information, income tax returns, etc.? Obviously no! Similarly, when you provide Aadhaar number to various service providers, your detail remains with the respective service providers and no single entity including the Government or UIDAI will have access to your personal information spread across various service providers.

When you link your bank account, demat account, mutual fund account, PAN, etc., with Aadhaar, you secure yourself because no one can impersonate you to avail these services. Often the fraudsters carry out transactions and transfer money from someone else’s account to their accounts and go untraced as they generally submit their fake identities to the bank while opening their accounts. They operate bank accounts in fictitious names/companies and run shell companies’ accounts to carry out money laundering or stash black money. Therefore, when all the bank accounts are verified with Aadhaar then it would not be possible for these unscrupulous elements to go untraced and banking as a whole would become more safe and secure as the identity of each bank account holders is established uniquely beyond doubt through eKYC. As of now 96 crore bank accounts out of total 110 crore accounts have been linked to Aadhaar.

At the same time, you also contribute to serve the vital national interests by making the system rid of bogus, fakes and duplicates who could misuse IDs to evade taxes, siphon off public money, etc. Through use of Aadhaar and other process improvements, the Government has been able to weed out more than 6 crore fakes, duplicates and ghosts beneficiaries and save more than Rs. 90,000 crore of public money. Also, ghost and shell entities and companies used to be created for tax evasion, money laundering, terror financing, etc. Verification of identity through Aadhaar has helped curb these practices. Similarly, use of Aadhaar has checked unscrupulous elements that used to resort to impersonation in various examination and tests for college admission and jobs, etc., and thereby denying the genuine candidates of their rightful dues. There are number of other areas where verification of identity through Aadhaar has brought in fairness and transparency in the system.

You should use your Aadhaar without any hesitation for proving your identity and doing transactions, just like you use your bank account number, PAN card, debit card, credit card, etc., wherever required. What UIDAI has advised is that Aadhaar card should be freely used for proving identity and doing transactions, but should not be put on public platforms like Twitter, Facebook, etc. People give their debit card or credit card details or cheque (which has bank account number) when they purchase goods, or pay school fee, water, electricity, telephone and other utility bills, etc. Similarly, you can freely use your Aadhaar to establish your identity as and when required without any fear. While using Aadhaar, you should do the same level of due diligence as you do in case of other ID cards – not more, not less.

You use PAN card, debit card, credit card, bank cheques wherever required. But do you put these details openly on internet and social media such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.? Obviously no! You do not put such personal details unnecessarily in public domain so that there is no unwarranted invasion attempt on your privacy. The same logic needs to be applied in case of uses of Aadhaar.

By Using Enrollment Number:Resident can download e-Aadhaar using 28 digit enrolment no. along with Full Name and Pin code. In this download process OTP is received on registered mobile no. Resident can also use TOTP to download e-Aadhaar instead of OTP. TOTP can generated using mAadhaar mobile Application.

By Using Aadhaar No:Resident can download e-Aadhaar by using 12 digits Aadhaar No. along with Full Name and Pin code. In this download process OTP is received on registered mobile no. Resident can also use TOTP to download e-Aadhaar instead of OTP. TOTP can generated using mAadhaar mobile Application.

Computer must be connected to internet while validating digital signature.

Right click on the 'validity unknown' icon and click on 'Validate Signature'

You will get the signature validation status window, click on 'Signature Properties'.

Click on 'Show Certificate.'

Verify that there is a certification path named 'NIC sub-CA for NIC 2011, National Informatics centre'. This identifies 'NIC sub-CA for NIC 2011, National Informatics centre' as the owner of the digital certificate that has been used when signing the document.

Mark the certification path named 'NIC sub-CA for NIC 2011, National Informatics centre', click the 'Trust' tab and then 'Add to Trusted Identities'.

Answer 'OK' to any security question that follows.

Check (✔) the field for 'Use this certificate as a trusted root' and click 'OK' twice to close this and the next window.

Click 'Validate Signature' to execute the validation.

Note: - Once 'NIC sub-CA for NIC 2011, National Informatics centre' has been as a Trusted Identity, any subsequent documents with digital signatures from CCA will be validated automatically when opened.

It is an one-time temporary password (OTP), that is generated by an algorithm and valid only for 30 seconds. Because of this time variable characteristic, it is called TOTP.

TOTP is 8 digit long numeric strings.

TOTP is personal to the resident and is uniquely generated every 30 seconds for each resident separately.

With time-based OTP, the TOTP validation server and token generation app(like mAadhaar) use their respective system times to generate OTPs. The TOTP algorithm assumes that the system times are synchronized.

Rooting is the process of allowing users of smart phones, tablets and other devices running the Android mobile operating system to attain privileged control (known as root access) over various Android subsystems.

There is no provision to manually enter the OTP anywhere in mAadhaar. This is a security feature. Please do not navigate from application if it is waiting for SMS. Aadhaar will automatically read the OTP once it is received.

Electronic Know or e KYC is the way of resident authentication used by organization like Banks, Aadhaar allows the residents to submit it as an address proof electronically which is valid as a Xerox copy of Aadhaar Card.

TOTPs avoid a number of shortcomings that are associated with traditional SMS based OTP. The most important shortcoming that is addressed by TOTPs is that resident will not be dependent on mobile network for SMS delivery. Generating and sending OTP requires users to go through a completely unrelated workflow.

One Aadhaar profile can be active on only one device at a time. If you create profile on another device by inserting the SIM in another device, the previous profile would become inactive and would be deleted from older device whenever any operation is attempted from that device.

Yes, it is compulsory to have registered Mobile Number.OTP will be shared and auto-filled via registered mobile number in mAadhaar app. In case you’re mobile number is not registered with Aadhaar visit the nearest Aadhaar Enrolment/Update Centre.

This feature is to secure biometric authentication by locking biometrics data of the resident. Biometric remains locked till the Aadhaar Holder chose to either unlock it (which is temporary) or Disable the Locking system.

A user can add maximum 3 profiles in his device, all having same mobile number registered in their Aadhaar. Auto-fill OTP is valid and hence user cannot add any profiles which are registered with any other mobile number. If members of your family have the same mobile number registered as you in their Aadhaar, you can add their profile in your device.

Application will ask for password as soon as it is opened as the first step. User should enter a password of minimum 8 and maximum 12 characters length. The password should contain at least 1 number, 1 alphabet, 1 special character ( @,#,&,%,*,!,-,(,) ) and 1 alphabet in capital e.g. Sharma@123.

Like most of other identity documents such as Passport, Driving License, Voter ID Card, Aadhaar Offline e-KYC is the identity document having demographic data and photo of the resident but does not contain Aadhaar number of the resident. It has an advantage over other identity documents that it is offline yet verifiable through digital signature.

Service Providers shall not share, publish or display either Share Code or XML file or its contents with anyone else. Any non-compliance shall be punishable as per the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 and its Regulations.

It is a secure digitally signed document which can be used by any Aadhaar number holder for offline verification of his/her identity. Resident may download the document with selected data fields like name, gender, date of birth, address, Registered Mobile Number (hashed), Registered Email Address (hashed) and photo graph. However, this document does not contain Aadhaar number of the resident.